Stock tank heater



J 24, 1941. M. H. KEATING STOCK TANK HEATER Filed Jan. 19, 1940 fivve/vre MAUE'ICE I71 hEA TING A 'T'TORNEYJ Patented .l'une 24, 1941 STOCK TANKHEATER Maurice H. Keating, Minneapolis, Minn., assignor to H. D. HudsonManufacturing Company, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of MinnesotaApplication January 19, 1940, Serial No. 314,611

9 Claims.

The present invention relates to a stock tank heater apparatus. In theraising of cattle in cold climates, an outside watering tank and outsidefeeding quarters are often used. Being exposed to the weather the waterin the tank freezes over depriving the stock of necessary water. Thismarkedly decreases the value of the stock feeding operations andprovision must, therefore, be made to supply water in adequatequantities under all temperature conditions. Not only must the stocktank heater be capable of preventing ice formation in the tank, but thismust be accomplished at low cost and with a minimum of attention.

It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide a stock tankheater device which is capable of being used under the most severeclimatic conditions for preventing ice formation in stock tanks.

i It is an object of the'invention to provide an improved stock tankheater including an improved support for maintaining the stock tankheater submerged in a predetermined spacial relationship with respect tothe bottom of the tank.

It is also an object of the invention to provide an improved burnercapable of utilizing low cost normally non-volatile fuels.

It is also an object of the invention to provide an improved burnercapable of being manufactured and maintained in operationat a very lowcost.

It is a further object of the invention to provide an improved burnerdevice capable of being utilized in a stock tank heater and for otherheating operations. a

Other and further objects of the invention are those inherent in theapparatus illustrated, described and claimed. 7

The apparatus of the present invention is illustrated with references tothe drawing:

1 about 22 to 24 inches high and areprovided with an upper beaded edgel.

The stock tank heater apparatus of the present invention consists of adowndraft fiu'e II] which is welded or otherwise affixed in water-tightrelationship to a substantially horizontally disposed crossfiue or heatdissipator generally designated Zll. At the end of the heat dissipator2U, opposite to the-point of connection of fiue Ill there is afiixed astack generally designated 40, which may be provided with a removablesupplemental stack portion generally designated 5B. The down-draft fluell), heat dissipator 20, and stack All-5i] provide for the carrying ofair and the products of combustion along the path of arrow ll in thedowndraft flue, thence through the burner. apparatus generallydesignated I2 along the path of arrow [3 and arrows H (see Figure 2) tothe stack iii whereupon the flue gases rise along the path of arrows lland finally emerge to atmosphere under the rainshield 5! of stack 50.

The downdraft fiue it and the stack 40 are welded or otherwise affixedin water-tight relationship to the water-tight heat dissipator 20. Theheat dissipator'iil may conveniently be made i by folding a fiatrectangular piece of metalin a Figure 1 is a side elevational viewpartly in section of a stock tank heater shown in place in a stock tank.

Figure 2 is a sectional view of'a portion of the stock tank heater shownin Figure 1 taken along the lines 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary end view taken along the lines 3-3 of Figure1.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary side elevational view partly in section of aportion of the burner apparatus of Figure 1. I

Figure 5 is a fragmentary sectional view of a modified part of theburner apparatus.

Figures 6 and 7 show another modification in plan and elevation.

broad U-shape so as to have a bottom 22 and sides. 23 as shown in Figure3. The top walls of heat dissipator may be made by utilizing a piece ofmetal having a Width equal to the distance between the side walls 23 andbending it so as to provide a top 24 and downturned end walls 25. Theseems it between the bottom-side wall piece and the top-end Wall pieceare then welded so as to provide a water-tight box.

Prior to the closure of the heat dissipator'box 24, however, there maybe provided a pair of internal bafiles Zl, shaped as shown in Figure 2so as to provide a circuitous path for the flow of gas through the heatdissipator, the purpose being to scrub the gas against the side wallsand thereby achieve maximum heat dissipation.

Adjacent each end of the heat dissipator section 20, there is provided adownwardly extending loop which is preferably made of stiff metalcirculated against the sides of heat dissipator due to positioning ofbaffles 21. As a result, the heat of the products of combustion isdissipated to the water within the tank, and the temperature of thewater is raised.

The flames emerge downwardly from downdraft flue l6 and impinge upon thechunks of refractory material ill in dish 69 and accordingly increasethe temperature of this refractory material. Ordinarily the refractorymaterial 1| operates in a hot oilless condition since ordinarily no oilfalls upon it, but as the rate of burning increases, or in someinstances, at the beginning of the burning operation, or when somedroplets of oil flow through the basket I4 without burning, the dropsthen fall downwardly on to the refractory material H with the resultthat the oil is vaporized thereon and burned. Accordingly, no oil iswasted in the burning operation and burning takes place efficiently.

The rate of operation may be varied from as low as one gallon of oil foreach 24 hours to as high as 7 or 8 gallons per 24 hours. At low rates ofburning, the temperature in stack 40-50 is low and accordingly theamount of air drawn through the apparatus is at a minimum. As the rateof operation increases, the stack temperature in stack 40-50 likewiseincreases with the result that additional air is drawn through theapparatus. Approximately the same ratio of air to fuel is thusinherently maintained at low rates of operation and. at high rates ofoperation with resulting high efiiciency in heat production since excessair is thus minimized.

Many obvious variations may be made without departing from the spirit ofthe invention herein illustrated, described and claimed.

Thus other refractory materials, such as stone or metal may be utilized,if desired for chunks 68, and other shapes and configurations of flues,stacks and heat transfer sections may be used. In some instances it isdesirable to dispense with the drop interceptor plate and merely allowthe oil to drop downwardly on the blocks of material for ignitionthereon and the basket i4 may if desired be replaced with a fixed grid.Likewise, the specific type of bracket for supporting the stock tankheater may be varied to meet the exigencies of any particularinstallattion. The heat producing unit may be utilized in stock tankheaters or for other purposes, for example, in brooder stoves, spaceheaters, or the like, where it is desirable efiiciently to burn lowgrade fuel with a minimum of attention.

These and many other variations will be ob vious to those familiar withthe art, and intended to be within the scope of the invention claimed.

What I claim is:

1. A heater comprising a downwardly extending flue, a plurality of lumpsof solid refractory material supported in the path of gases flowingthrough said flue, said material being loosely packed so as to permitgases to flow downwardly therethrough and means for dripping oildownwardly onto the pieces of non-burnable material for ignitionthereon, said pieces of refractory being positioned so that a centralpiece is in the path of the dripping oil so as to intercept and splatterthe oil onto the surrounding pieces.

2. A heater comprising a downwardly extending flue, a plurality of lumpsof solid refractory material supported in the path of gases flowingthrough said flue, said material being loosely packed so as to permitgases to flow downwardly therethrough and means for dripping oildownwardly onto the pieces of non-burnable material for ignitionthereon, said pieces of refractory being positioned so that a centralpiece is 1 in the path of the dripping oil so as to intercept andsplatter oil on the surrounding pieces of refractory, and another massof non-burnable material in the flame path and below said firstmentioned non-burnable material.

3. A heater comprising a downwardly extend.- ing flue, means fordripping oil downwardly through said flue, a, drip plate mountedtransversely of the flue in the path of said dripping oil forintercepting and splattering the oil, and non-burnable materialsupported adjacent and around the drip plate in the path of thesplattered oil, said non-burnable material being loosely packed topermit the passage of gases downwardly therethrough.

4. A heater comprising a downwardly extending flue, means for drippingoil downwardly through said flue, a drip plate mounted transversely ofthe flue in the path of said dripping oil for intercepting andsplattering the oil and a first mass of non-burnable material supportedadjacent and around the drip plate in the path of the splattered oil,said first mass being loosely packed to permit passage of gasesdownwardly therethrough, and another mass of non-burnable material belowsaid first mass in the path of flames originating on the first mass ofnon-burnable material.

5. A heating device comprising a down draft flue, and oil conduit meansfor dripping oil down said flue, a drip plate supported transversely insaid flue for intercepting and splattering the dripping oil, a pluralityof chunks of absorbent refractory material positioned around the dripplate in positions to intercept most of the splattered oil, said chunksbeing loosely spaced to permit the passage of gases downwardlytherethrough, a secondary oil catch basin below the end of said downdraft flue in the path of flame travel therefrom for catching excess oiland a plurality of chunks of absorbent refractory material in said catchbasin.

6. A heating device comprising a vertically disposed down-draft flue,oil supply and conduit means for dripping oil downwardly in said flue,and a metal basket of pertused material supported in said flue, saidbasket being provided with a drip plate for intercepting and splatteringthe oil dripping down the flue and a plurality of chunks of absorbentrefractory material arranged around the drip plate for intercepting thesplattered oil, said chunks being loosely spaced to permit the passageof gases downwardly therethrough.

7. A heating device comprising .a vertically disposed downdraft flue,oil supply and conduit means for dripping oil downwardly in said flue, ametal basket of pertused material supported .in said flue, said basketbeing provided with a drip plate for intercepting and splattering theoil dripping downwardly in the flue and a plurality of chunks ofabsorbent refractory material arranged around the drip plate forintercepting thesplattered oil, said chunks being loosely spaced topermit the passage of gases downwardly therethrough, a secondary catchbasin located beneath the basket in the path of gas travel therefrom anda plurality of chunks of absorbent refractory material in secondarycatch basin.

8. A heater comprising a downwardly extending flue, means for drippingoil downwardly in the flue, and an oil dispersing means in the flue,

said means being of heat refractory material having a large number ofprojections thereon and a plurality of spaces therethrough for thepassage of gases flowing through the flue, the size of said dispersingmeans being such that it extends practically across the flue, oneportion of said means being positioned to intercept and splatter oil onthe remaining portion of said means for burning thereon, so that themajor part of the gases passing through the flue isforced to passthrough the spaces in the dispersing and igniting means. I 9. A deviceof the type s'et'forth' in claim 8 wherein the dispersingmeans iscomposed of a plurality of irregular chunks of firebrick sinteredtogether. i

m I MAURICE H. KEA'IING.

